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Abstract:

A virtual currency system keeps track of virtual credits, which can be
owned, transferred, purchased, and sold by participants in a virtual
economy. Each virtual credit has an internal value and an external value,
which define, respectively, the exchange rates for creating and redeeming
the virtual credits. Upon creation of new virtual credits, the internal
value for those credits is the rate for which real currency was paid per
credit. The external value sets the rate at which the virtual credits can
be redeemed for real currency. Each virtual credit may further have a
face value, which is an apparent value of the virtual credit within the
virtual economy, giving users a baseline impression for valuing the
virtual currency. These features of the virtual currency enable a number
of useful actions within the virtual economy, including currency seeding,
couponing, and chargebacks.

Claims:

1. A method for managing a virtual currency, the method comprising:
storing an account for each of a plurality of participants of a virtual
economy; receiving a plurality of requests to create new credits of the
virtual currency; for each request to create new credits, recording in a
data store a number of credits created and a set of attributes of the
credits, wherein the attributes include an internal value representing a
rate of real currency received per credit created and an external value
representing a rate of real currency to be provided per credit upon
redemption, assigning the created credits to one or more accounts of
participants, and associating the credits with their attributes;
receiving a plurality of requests to transfer credits from an account of
a transferring participant to an account of a receiving participant; for
each request to transfer credits, deducting an amount of credits from the
transferring participant, adding the amount of credits to the receiving
participant, and associating the credits added to the receiving
participant with their attributes; receiving a plurality of requests to
redeem a number of credits from the account of a participant; for each
request to redeem credits from the account of a participant, deducting
the redeemed credits from the account of the participant, and providing
an amount of real currency to the participant, the amount of real
currency provided determined based on the external value of the redeemed
credits.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the attributes further comprise a face
value, the face value representing the value presented to the
participants in the system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the participant comprises a central
manager.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the participant comprises one or more
individual users.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the participant comprises one or more
vendors.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the participant comprises one or more
third party payors.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the internal value of the credits is
less than the face value of the credits.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the external value of the credits is
less than the face value of the credits.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the internal value of the credits is
less than the external value of the credits.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the external value of the credits is
less than the internal value of the credits.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for at least one of the
requests to create new credits, receiving an amount of real currency in
exchange for creating the credits, the received amount of real currency
based on the internal value of the created credits.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each request to
transfer credits, storing a record about the transfers of the credits in
a data store.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each request to transfer credits,
deducting an amount of credits from the transferring participant
comprises deducting the credits in the account in an order in which the
credits were added to the account.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each request to transfer credits,
deducting an amount of credits from the transferring participant
comprises deducting the credits in the account having a lower internal
value compared with other credits in the account.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each request to transfer credits,
deducting an amount of credits from the transferring participant
comprises deducting the credits in the account having a lower external
value compared with other credits in the account.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request to
transfer credits having an internal value of zero to the account of a
receiving participant.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request to transfer
credits to a receiving participant is connected to a purchase of a good
or a service by the transferring participant.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing to a first
participant an account balance of a second participant.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first participant is a vendor and
the second participant is an individual user.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting an account of an
individual user with one or more credits having an internal value of
zero; and inviting the individual user to purchase a good or a service in
exchange for the credits.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting an account of an
individual user with one or more credits having a lower external value
compared with other credits in the system; and inviting the individual
user to purchase a good or a service in exchange for the credits.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein for one or more of the requests to
transfer credits, the transfer comprises a loan of credits from a
transferring participant to a receiving participant, the steps of
carrying out a loan comprising: storing a loan balance for the amount of
loaned credits in a data store; maintaining a loan balance in the
accounts of the transferring participant and the receiving participant;
tracking the loaned credits through one or more transfers; and updating
the loan balance to reflect payment of the loan.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein a request to create new credits is
received from a third party payor on behalf of an individual user.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the third party payor charges a
surcharge for the request to create new credits, and wherein the method
further comprises discounting the external value of the new credits based
on the surcharge.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the third party payor is a mobile
phone carrier that holds an account for the individual user.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a request from
an individual user to refund the created credits for real currency, the
created credits associated with one of the requests to create credits;
retrieving the internal value associated with the created credits;
deducting the created credits from the account of the individual user;
and refunding the individual user for the value of the created credits in
real currency based on the internal value of the credits.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a request from a
receiving participant to return the transferred credits back to the
transferring participant, the transferred credits associated with one of
the requests to transfer credits; identifying the transferred credits;
deducting the transferred credits from the account of the receiving
participant; and adding the transferred credits back to the account of
the transferring participant.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising: attributing to the created
credits a unique identification number associated with a specific vendor;
assigning the created credits to an account of an individual user;
displaying to the individual user the total number of credits in the
account of the individual user; displaying to the individual user the
number of created credits that have a unique identification number
associated with the specific vendor; and allowing the transfer of the
created credits only to the specific vendor in exchange for a good or a
service, the created credits having a redemption value based on the
external value that is less than the value of the good or the service.

29. A method for managing a virtual currency, the method comprising:
storing an account for each of a plurality of participants of a virtual
economy; creating a bucket of credits comprising one or more credits,
wherein the bucket of credits is associated with an internal value that
represents a rate of real currency received per credit created and an
external value that represents a rate of real currency to be provided per
credit upon redemption; assigning credits from the bucket of credits
among one or more of the accounts, wherein the credits in each account
are associated with the internal and external values; transferring
credits between the accounts of one or more participants; tracking
credits transferred between accounts, wherein the transferred credits
retain their association with their internal and external values; and
redeeming one or more credits from an account, wherein the redeemed
credits are deducted from the account, and wherein the participant
associated with the account receives an amount of real currency according
to the external value of the redeemed credits.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising transferring credits
having an internal value of zero to the account of a receiving
participant.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising: selecting an account of a
participant with one or more credits having an internal value of zero;
and inviting the participant to purchase a good or a service in exchange
for the credits.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein transferring credits comprises a loan
of credits from a transferring participant to a receiving participant,
the steps of carrying out a loan comprising: storing a loan balance for
the amount of loaned credits in a data store; maintaining a loan balance
in the accounts of the transferring participant and the receiving
participant; tracking the loaned credits through one or more transfers;
and updating the loan balance to reflect payment of the loan.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising: receiving a request from
a participant to refund the credits for real currency; retrieving the
internal value associated with the credits; deducting the credits from
the account of the participant; and refunding the participant for the
value of the credits in real currency based on the internal value of the
credits.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising: receiving a request from
a receiving participant to return the credits back to a transferring
participant; identifying the transferred credits; deducting the
transferred credits from the account of the receiving participant; and
adding the transferred credits back to the account of the transferring
participant.

35. The method of claim 29, further comprising: attributing to the
credits a unique identification number associated with a specific vendor;
assigning the credits to an account of a participant; displaying to the
participant the total number of credits in the account of the
participant; displaying to the participant the number of credits that
have a unique identification number associated with the specific vendor;
and allowing the transfer of the credits only to the specific vendor in
exchange for a good or a service, the credits having a redemption value
based on the external value that is less than the value of the good or
the service.

Description:

BACKGROUND

[0001] This invention relates generally to virtual economies, and in
particular, to creating, redeeming, and tracking virtual credits by a
virtual currency system.

[0002] Virtual currency systems enable users to interact in a virtual
environment by transacting with other entities in the virtual
environment. Users may exchange virtual credits for a variety of
different purposes, such as a purchase of goods or services from a vendor
or a gift or payment between individuals. In some systems, virtual
credits can also be exchanged for real currency, such as by purchasing
virtual credits with real currency and/or redeeming virtual credits for
real currency. Conventionally, however, all virtual credits are treated
the same in virtual currency systems. In particular, virtual credits are
created based on an original exchange rate, and they are redeemed for
real currency at that same exchange rate.

[0003] Because of this limitation, it is difficult to distinguish among or
otherwise enable different types of credits in conventional systems. For
example, seeding credits to a user may involve creating credits without
an initial cost or with a discounted cost. Then, when the seeded credits
are transferred or redeemed, the seeded credits may need to be identified
and/or their original cost tracked. Otherwise, the virtual currency
system may not be able to distinguish the seeded credits from other
credits in the currency system. Identifying the seeded credits may be
necessary, for example, for providing the correct value upon redemption
of the virtual credits or for other accounting requirements.

[0004] Discounting of goods or services in the virtual currency system may
also involve creating credits that have different exchange rates for real
currency. For instance, a vendor may desire to identify and accept
virtual credits that have a real currency value (i.e., a redeemable
value) that is lower than the actual value of the good or service in
order to provide a discount to a user. But existing virtual currency
systems, which are not able to create and track virtual credits having
different characteristics, do not enable such discounting schemes.

[0005] These inherent limitations of existing virtual economies stem, at
least in part, from their inflexible relationship with real currencies,
such as how virtual credits may be exchanged for real currency. Moreover,
existing virtual currency systems fail to provide adequate accounting
mechanisms that enables higher level features in a virtual economy.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved ways of creating, tracking, and
redeeming virtual credits in a virtual currency system.

SUMMARY

[0006] To enhance the capabilities of a virtual economy, embodiments of
the invention provide a virtual currency system that manages units of a
virtual currency, called virtual credits. The virtual credits may be
owned by and exchanged among various participants in the virtual economy.
The participants in the virtual economy may include individual users,
vendors or other non-individual entities, such as third party payors, and
even the central manager of the virtual currency system. Moreover, the
virtual credits may be purchased and/or sold in exchange for real
currency. The purchase of new virtual credits may involve the creation of
new virtual credits by the virtual currency system, and the sale of
existing credits may involve the redemption of existing virtual credits
by the virtual currency system.

[0007] In one embodiment, a virtual currency system keeps track of
information about the virtual credits. For example, each virtual credit
may have an internal value and an external value, and these values may be
different for different virtual credits (or buckets of virtual credits).
The internal and external values for each virtual credit define,
respectively, the exchange rates for creating and redeeming the virtual
credits. Upon creation of new virtual credits, the internal value for
those virtual credits is the rate for which real currency was paid per
virtual credit, which may be different from an apparent face value of the
virtual credit. The external value of the virtual credits may also be
established at creation, where the external value sets the rate at which
the virtual credits can be redeemed for real currency. Each virtual
credit may further have a face value, which is an apparent value of the
virtual credit within the virtual economy, giving users a baseline
impression for valuing the virtual currency. The face value thus allows
the virtual currency to be expressed in terms of a real-currency monetary
value (e.g., 100 virtual credits may have a face value of $10).

[0008] As virtual credits are transferred within the virtual economy, from
participant to participant, the virtual currency system tracks these
values for the virtual credits. The ability of the face, internal, and
external values to be different, and the tracking of these values for the
virtual credits owned by each participant, enables a number of useful
actions within the virtual economy, including currency seeding,
couponing, and chargebacks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a high-level conceptual diagram illustrating the virtual
currency system where credits are created, transferred, and redeemed, in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a network diagram of a system environment for creating,
transferring and redeeming credits, in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention.

[0011]FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a process for creating credits in a
virtual currency system, in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.

[0012]FIG. 4 is a diagram of the participant account module and the data
store module of the virtual currency system, in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention.

[0013]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a transfer of credits between
participants' accounts, in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.

[0014]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the redemption process, in accordance with
an embodiment of the invention.

[0015] FIG. 7 is a diagram of the creation, transfer, and redemption of
credits among participants of the virtual currency system, in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention.

[0016] The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for
purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily
recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of
the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without
departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

[0017] A virtual currency system offers participants a means to exchange
goods and services in a virtual online environment. Participants exchange
virtual credits to purchase goods, services, or other items of value. A
virtual currency system can provide access to goods and services for a
wider audience of users than a traditional currency system by providing
new and easier methods to purchase or acquire goods and services. As used
herein, the term "credit", or "virtual credit," refers to a unit of
virtual currency used in the virtual currency system. "Virtual currency"
refers to currency that is exchanged for value in a virtual environment.
In contrast, "real currency" refers to any type of currency used in
transactions of value outside of a virtual environment. Real currency can
also include intangible currency, such as mobile phone minutes, airtime
credits or other units of value used in a wireless services account. The
virtual currency system can exist in any virtual environment where users
can interact and exchange value, such as an online game website, an
online simulation environment, a social networking environment, or an
online marketplace. The goods or services that are exchanged in the
virtual currency system may be real, virtual, digital, or a combination
thereof.

[0018] In the virtual currency system, a bucket of virtual credits is
created with an internal value, an external value, and a face value. A
bucket of credits may include one or more credits. The internal value is
set by the original rate for creating the credits. The external value is
set by the rate of exchange of the credits for real currency. The face
value is the value of the virtual currency that is shown to the users of
the system.

[0019] Creating credits with an internal value and an external value
allows for various applications. The internal value of the bucket of
credits can be determined to allow for currency applications such as
discounting or seeding. An internal value that is lower than the actual
cost of creating a bucket of credits allows the user to receive a
discount for the cost of purchasing the credits. An internal value of
zero enables seeding of credits to a user at no initial cost. Moreover,
discounting of the external value lowers the redemption value of the
credits. An external value that is lower than the cost of a good or a
service allows the vendor to give a discount to the user for the good or
service. The internal and external values can be used as identifying
attributes for a bucket of credits and enable tracking of the credits
through various transactions in the virtual currency system.

[0020] Participants of the virtual currency system can include users,
vendors, a central manager, and third party payors. Users are individuals
that acquire or purchase credits and exchange the credits for goods or
services. Another type of participant is a vendor, which can be
individual, business, developer, or entity that provides services or
goods in exchange for credits. The central manager manages the creation,
transfer, and redemption of credits and interacts with the participants.
The central manager can be an individual, group, entity, business or
social network provider. In some embodiments, the central manager can
also act as a user or vendor. The central manager can provide goods and
services in exchange for credits from users. Other participants can
include non-individual entities or third party payors, such as electronic
payment providers or mobile phone carriers, which facilitate or
participate in transactions in the virtual currency system. Various other
participants may be included in the virtual currency system.

[0021]FIG. 1 shows a high-level block diagram of an embodiment of the
virtual currency system. In one embodiment, the central manager 100
interacts with users 110 and vendors 120. The central manager 100 issues
credits 130 in exchange for real currency 140. The user 110 can purchase
credits 130 from the central manager 100 in exchange for real currency
140. The user 110 can exchange credits 130 for goods or services 150 from
a vendor 120. The vendor 120 can accept credits 130 from users 110 in
exchange for goods or services 150 and redeem the credits 130 for real
currency 140 from the central manager 100.

[0022] Various other transactions can occur among the participants of the
virtual currency system. In some embodiments, the central manager 100
also acts as a vendor 120 and provides goods and services 150 to users
110 in exchange for credits 130. The central manager 100 can sell credits
130 to users 110 and vendors 120. Moreover, the central manager 100 can
sell both credits 130 and goods and services 150 to users 110. For
example, the central manager 100 can sell a bucket of fifty credits to a
user 110 for ten dollars, and then sell an online game application to the
user 110 in exchange for the same credits 130.

[0023] In other embodiments, the vendor 120 can sell credits 130 to the
user 110 in exchange for real currency 140. In one embodiment, vendors
120 can redeem credits 130 for real currency 140, but users cannot redeem
credits 130 for real currency 140. The vendor 120 can also purchase
credits 130 from the central manager 100.

[0024] In another embodiment, a third party payor, such as an electronic
payment provider, mobile phone carrier, or mobile virtual network
operator, can assist in transactions within the virtual currency system.
In some aspects, the third party payor can purchase credits 130 from the
central manager 100 on behalf of the user 110. The third party payor can
also charge a fee for the transaction. For example, a user 110 can
purchase credits 130 via a mobile phone carrier. The user 110 has an
account with the mobile phone carrier and can request to trade minutes
for the purchase of credits 130. The mobile phone carrier can subtract a
certain number minutes from the user's account for the value of the
credits 130 and include a surcharge for the transaction. In another
embodiment, the mobile phone carrier can charge the user's account
directly for the purchase of the credits 130. The mobile phone carrier
can purchase credits 130 from the central manager 100, and the central
manager can provide the credits 130 directly to the user. In other
embodiments, the mobile phone carrier can receive credits 130 from the
central manager 100 and provide the credits 130 to the user 110. The user
110 can also request that the mobile phone carrier purchase services or
goods 150 from a vendor 120 on behalf of the user 110. For example, a
user 110 can request that the mobile phone carrier purchase an online
game application from a vendor 120 on behalf of the user 110.

System Architecture

[0025]FIG. 2 is a high level block diagram illustrating a virtual
currency system environment 200 suitable for the creation, redemption and
accounting of virtual currency. The system environment may comprise one
or more user devices 210, one or more external websites 220, a server
230, and a network 201. The user devices 210 comprise one or more
computing devices that can receive user input and can transmit and
receive data via the network. For instance, the user devices 210 can be
desktop computers, laptop computers, portable computers, smart phones,
personal digital assistants (PDAs) or any other device including
computing functionality and data communication capabilities. The user
devices 210 are configured to communicate via the network 201, which may
comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using
both wired and wireless communication systems.

[0026] In some embodiments, the virtual currency server 230 is accessed
through a website 220. In other embodiments, the virtual currency server
230 is accessed through a social networking website.

[0027] The network 201 is connected to a server 230, which comprises a
creation module 231, a transfer module 232, a redemption module 233, a
data store module 234, a user account module 235, and a communication
module 236. In other embodiments, the server 230 may include fewer,
additional or different modules for various applications.

[0028] The creation module 231 creates new credits with identifying values
and attributes. An embodiment of the creation process is described in
detail in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the creation module 231 creates
buckets of credits and determines attributes associated with the bucket
of credits, which may include one or more of the following: the number of
credits in the bucket, an internal value, an external value, a face
value, a unique identification ("ID") number, and a time stamp. Other
identifying attributes may be created for the bucket of credits.

[0029] The data store module 234 inputs and stores attributes about the
bucket of credits in a database. In some embodiments, the data store
module 234 records information about the ID number associated with the
bucket of credits, the number of credits in the bucket, the internal
value, the external value, and a time stamp for the bucket of credits.
The data store module 234 can record data about the transaction history
for a bucket of credits or a portion of the credits.

[0030] The participant account module 235 stores information about the
accounts of the participants in the virtual currency system. In some
embodiments, each participant has an account with a record of the credits
owned by the participant. The participant account module 235 stores
information about the number of credits in the participant's account and
the ID number associated with each bucket of credits. The details about
the data store process are shown in FIG. 4.

[0031] The transfer module 232 transfers credits among participants'
accounts in the virtual currency system. The transfer module 232 can
transfer credits from a transferring participant to a receiving
participant. For example, the transfer module 232 can transfer credits
from the central manager 100 to a user 110, from a first user 110 to a
second user 110, or from a vendor 120 to a user 110. The transfer process
is described in detail in FIG. 5.

[0032] The communication module 236 enables communication between the
various modules and the network. The communication module enables
connectivity within the environment of the virtual accounting system. If
the virtual currency system is accessed via a website, the communication
module is a web server.

Creation of Virtual Credits

[0033]FIG. 3 shows the detailed steps for the creation of a bucket of
credits in the virtual currency system. The creation of virtual credits
begins when the creation module 231 receives a request to create a new
bucket of credits 300. The request may be accompanied with an amount of
real currency required to create a bucket of new credits. In some
embodiments, no amount of real currency is required to create a bucket of
new credits. The creation module 231 may receive a plurality of requests
to create new buckets of credits.

[0034] The creation module 231 also determines the number of credits that
will be created for a new bucket 310. For each bucket of credits, the
creation module 231 determines attributes to assign to the bucket of
credits. For instance, the creation module determines the internal value
of the bucket of credits 320. The internal value is based on the initial
exchange rate for creating the credits. For example, if the initial cost
to create a bucket of 100 credits is $10.00, the internal value would be
$0.10. Each credit in a bucket is assigned the same internal value. In
some embodiments, the internal value of the bucket of credits is hidden
from the users of the system.

[0035] The creation module 231 also determines an external value for the
bucket of credits 330. The external value is a rate at which the credit
is exchanged for real world currency. The external value is attributed to
each credit in the bucket. For instance, for a bucket of 100 credits,
each of the credits in the bucket has an external value of $0.05. The
external value of $0.05 is used to calculate the value of the 100 credits
at the time of redemption of the credits, which would result in $5.00 of
real currency. Each credit in the bucket has the same external value. In
some embodiments, the external value of the bucket of credits may be
hidden from the user or vendor.

[0036] Every credit in the virtual currency system is given a fixed face
value. The face value can be the same for all credits in the system. The
face value is the apparent value of the credit that is presented to
participants in the system. For example, the credit may have a face value
of 10 virtual currency units, but have an internal value of $0.01 and an
external value of $0.05. In some embodiments, the face value may
correspond with the internal value or the external value of the credit.
In other embodiments, the face value can be independent of the internal
value and the external value of the credit. In another embodiment, the
face value is given a real currency value. For instance, a credit may be
presented as having a face value of $0.10.

[0037] The creation module 231 assigns a unique identification number ("ID
number") to the bucket of credits 340. Each credit in a bucket carries
the same ID number, and different amounts of credits from the same bucket
can be tracked through various transactions based on the ID number. The
creation module 231 can assign a time stamp to the bucket of credits 350,
which may include details about the time and/or date when the bucket of
credits was created. The creation module 231 may associate one or more
additional attributes to the bucket of credits. The creation module 231
associates the bucket of credits with all of the attributes.

[0038] The creation process continues with the data storage module 234,
which inputs a record about the bucket of credits and its associated
attributes into a data store 360. The data store module 234 can update
the data store for a plurality of buckets of credits by recording data
about each new bucket and the corresponding identifying attributes.

[0039]FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the data store module 410 and the
participant account module 420. The data store module 410 inputs and
stores information into a data store 430 about the various attributes
associated with the bucket of credits. In some embodiments, the data
store module 410 records the ID number associated with the bucket of
credits, the number of credits in the bucket, the internal value, the
external value, and a time stamp for the bucket of credits. The data
store module 410 can record the number of credits that were redeemed from
the bucket and/or the number of remaining credits in the bucket after one
or more of the credits are redeemed. The data store module 410 may input
fewer or additional attributes about the bucket of credits. The data
store module 410 can store attributes about every bucket of credits in
the virtual currency system.

[0040] In one embodiment, the data store module 410 stores the information
about the bucket of credits according to the ID number. In some
embodiments, the data store module 410 records the buckets of credits in
a database in the chronological order in which they are created. In other
embodiments, the data store module 410 records and organizes the buckets
of credits according to the internal value or the external value of the
credits.

[0041] Next, the data store module 410 assigns a number of credits to one
or more accounts of participants. A bucket of credits may be assigned to
one participant or apportioned to numerous participants. When a bucket of
credits is assigned to a participant, the attributes of the bucket are
maintained with the bucket of credits in the participant's account.

[0042] The participant account module 420 makes a record of the credits
that are assigned to one or more participants. FIG. 4 illustrates that a
bucket of credits or a portion of the bucket of credits can be assigned
to a participant's account 440. The participant account module 420
records data about the credits in each participant's account 440
according to the data in the data store. For instance, the participant
account module 420 can record data about the number of credits and the ID
number of the credits in the participant's account 440. In some
embodiments, the participant account module 420 includes a database of
all the accounts 440 in the virtual currency system. In one embodiment, a
participant's account 440 comprises a table with entries of credits and
the information about each entry, including the bucket ID number for the
bucket from which the credits in the entry originated. In some
embodiments, the participant's credits are listed chronologically in the
participant's account 440 according to the order in which the participant
acquired or purchased the credits. In other embodiments, the participant
account module 420 lists the credits in a table based on other attributes
of the bucket, such as the number of credits, ID number, internal value
or external value of the credits.

[0043] In another embodiment, the creation module 231 can create classes
of credits. A class of created credits can be defined by one or more
attributes, such as the external value, internal value, or another
identifying attribute described herein. The number of created credits in
a class can increase as more credits with the same defining attributes
are created. The class of credits is not limited by the time at which the
credits were created or the number of credits that were initially created
in the class. For instance, a class of created credits can be defined by
an internal value, such as an internal value of $0.05 per credit. The
class of created credits can expand in number each time more credits are
created with an internal value of $0.05. The creation module 231 can
create numerous classes of credits categorized by any identifying
attribute(s). The data store module 234 can record the data about the
class of credits and input the number of credits in the class as credits
are created and redeemed.

Transfer of Credits

[0044] The transfer module 232 can transfer a newly created bucket of
credits into a participant's account. The transfer module 232 begins a
transfer of credits when it receives a request to transfer credits from
one participant's account (e.g., the transferring participant) into
another participant's account (e.g., the receiving participant). When a
transfer of credits occurs, the transfer module 232 updates both the
account of the transferring party and the account of the receiving party.
In some embodiments, the transfer module 232 receives information about
the number of credits to be transferred from a transferring party's
account and the bucket ID number associated with the credits. The
transfer module 232 updates the transferring party's account by reducing
or deducting the number of credits in the account by the number of
credits that are to be transferred to the receiving party's account. An
entire entry for a bucket of credits can be removed from a transferring
party's account if the transfer request depletes all of the credits in
the bucket. Next, the transfer module 232 can update the receiving
party's account by adding the number of credits that were transferred
into the account, which includes associating the attributes about the
bucket of credits with the account of the receiving participant. For
instance, the bucket ID number is associated with the transferred credits
in FIG. 4. Accordingly, the transfer module 232 can transfer credits
among participants' accounts while maintaining data about the attributes
associated with the transferred credits.

[0045] The order in which the credits are transferred can be varied in the
virtual currency system. In some embodiments, the credits are transferred
according to the chronological order in which the participant acquired or
purchased the credits. In a first-in-first-out ("FIFO") method, the
credits that were acquired or purchased first are the first to be
transferred out.

[0046]FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of a transfer of credits using the FIFO
method between the account of Participant A 510 and the account of
Participant B 520. Participant A can make a request to transfer 60
credits from Participant A's account 510 to Participant B's account 520.
Prior to the transfer, Participant A's account 510 shows a list of
entries that represent credits that Participant A owns and the order in
which Participant A acquired the credits. The order of the credits in
Participant A's account 510 shows that Participant A first acquired 50
credits with an ID Number 1 and then acquired 25 credits with an ID
Number 2. Participant B's account 520 has no credits prior to the
transfer. The transfer module 232 can transfer the credits that were
acquired the earliest (ID Number 1) based on the chronological list of
credits in Participant A's account 510. If the first bucket of credits
does not fulfill the transfer request, the next bucket of credits (ID
Number 2) is used to fulfill the request to transfer credits to
Participant B's Account 520. For example, in order to transfer 60 credits
from Participant A to Participant B, the transfer module 232 first
updates Participant A's account 510 by removing 50 credits of ID Number
1. This depletes all of the credits with ID Number 1 in Participant A's
account 510, and the entry for ID Number 1 is deleted from Participant
A's account 510. Next, the transfer module 232 removes 10 credits of ID
Number 2 from Participant A's account 510. The transfer module 232
updates Participant B's account 520 by adding entries for 50 credits of
ID Number 1 and 10 credits of ID Number 2. After the transfer, 15 credits
of ID Number 2 remain in Participant A's account 510.

[0047] In some embodiments, the data store module 234 can record the
information about each transfer that is carried out by the transfer
module 232. In one embodiment, the data store module 234 can record the
number of credits that are transferred, the bucket ID number, and the
account of the participant to which the credits are transferred for each
transaction. The data store module 234 can store the entire transaction
history for a bucket of credits as the credits are exchanged and
apportioned in various transactions in the virtual currency system.

[0048] In another embodiment, the credits in the participant's account
with the lowest internal value are transferred before other credits with
a higher internal value. In some embodiments, the credits with the lowest
external value are selected for transfer before other credits with a
higher external value. In other embodiments, the credits with the highest
external value are selected for transfer before other credits in the
participant's account. In a related embodiment, the external values of
all of the credits held in the participant's account are averaged, and
the credits are transferred equally without consideration of when the
credit was obtained or the external value or internal value of the
credits.

Redemption of Credits

[0049]FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of the redemption process. The
redemption module 233 can execute the redemption of virtual credits into
real currency. The redemption module 233 receives a request for credits
to be redeemed 600 from a participant's account. The redemption module
233 identifies the credits to be redeemed in the participant's account
according to the bucket ID number(s) 610. Next, the external value(s)
associated with the credits must be identified 620. The request can also
include information about the number of credits to be redeemed. The
redemption module 233 removes the credits from the participant's account
630 and removes the record about the credits from the database 640. The
redemption module 233 pays the user in real currency for the value of the
credits based on the external value associated with the credits 650. The
exchange rate between the redeemed credits and the real currency paid for
them is set by the external value of the credits that are being redeemed.
For instance, a vendor may request to exchange a bucket of 100 credits
for real currency from the central manager. The credits may have an
external value of $0.05, so the vendor would receive $5.00 of real
currency upon redemption of the bucket of credits.

[0050] In another embodiment, the data store module 234 can remove the
record in the database to indicate that the credits have been redeemed
from the system. The participant account module 233 can also update the
record in the participant's account to remove the credits that have been
redeemed.

[0051] In some embodiments, only certain types of participants, such as
vendors or third party payors, can redeem credits for real currency. In
one embodiment, individual users may purchase credits and exchange
credits for goods and services within the virtual currency system, but
may not redeem the credits for real currency. The central manager
receives the request to redeem the credits from the vendor or third party
payor and manages the payment of real currency.

[0052] In one embodiment, the credits with the lowest internal value in
the participant's account may be redeemed before other credits with a
higher internal value. In some embodiments, the credits with the lowest
external value are redeemed before other credits with a higher external
value. In another embodiment, the external values of all of the credits
held in the participant's account are averaged, and the credits are
redeemed equally without consideration of the external value of the
credits.

[0053] In some embodiments, a participant can be charged a tax when
credits are redeemed for real currency. For example, a sales tax can be
applied to the payment of real currency at the time of redemption. In
other embodiments, a tax is applied for each transfer of credits within
the virtual currency system.

[0054] FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the process of creating
credits, transferring and tracking credits through various transactions
based on the ID number associated with the credits, and redeeming credits
for real currency. In some embodiments, the creation of credits 701
requires the input of real currency. The credits are then assigned to one
or more users. In FIG. 7, User A 710 is assigned 100 credits with ID
Number 1. The credits can be tracked through various accounts and
exchanges based on the ID number, even though the credits are apportioned
into smaller portions or individual credits. For example, User A 710
transfers 50 credits with ID Number 1 to Vendor A 720 and 50 credits with
ID Number 1 to User B 730. Next, Vendor A 720 transfers 10 of the credits
with ID number 1 to User C 740. User B 730 then transfers 20 credits with
ID number 1 to Vendor B 750. Multiple transfers of credits with ID number
1 can occur in this manner among various participants within the virtual
currency system. The transfer module 232 can carry out each transfer of
credits, and the data store module 234 can record the transaction history
for the bucket of credits as the credits are transferred among various
participants' accounts. Finally, Vendor B 750 redeems all of its credits
702 in exchange for real currency. The central manager can manage the
creation 701 and redemption 702 of credits. Various other types of
transfers among multiple participants may occur in accordance with
embodiments of the inventions.

EXAMPLES

Seeding of Credits

[0055] Credits with unique internal values and external values allow for
seeding in the virtual currency system. A class or bucket of credits can
be created with an internal value of zero and can be used to seed credits
to users. Seeding occurs when credits are given to users without cost to
the user. For instance, seeding new credits to a user can encourage a
user to use a new online game or application. The user can try the online
game or application at no cost by using the seeded credits. In some
embodiments, the central manager can seed credits to users and track the
transfers of the credits through the virtual currency system. The
tracking of the seeded credits can help the central manager to see where
and how seeded credits are spent. It can also enable the central manager
to target offers to users who have seeded credits in their accounts.

[0056] In some embodiments, the central manager can subsidize the cost of
seeding credits to users. For example, the central manager can create a
bucket of 100 credits with an internal value of $0.00 and an external
value of $0.05 and present the credits to a user. The vendor may provide
$5.00 of services in exchange for the seeded credits from the user, and
the vendor may redeem the bucket of credits for a real currency value of
$5. The central manager subsidizes the cost of creating the credits and
pays $5.00 when the credits are redeemed.

[0057] Seeding can also require a vendor to subsidize the costs of
creating the credits. For example, a bucket of 100 credits may be created
with an internal value of $0.00 and an external value of $0.05. The
credits can be seeded to a user with an invitation to spend the credits
with an online game vendor. The online game vendor may provide $10.00
worth of services in exchange for the 100 credits. When the vendor
redeems the 100 credits, the vendor will only receive $5.00 in real
currency based on the external value of $0.05. In this exchange, the
vendor will subsidize $5.00 of the cost of seeding the user. In other
embodiments, both the central manager and the vendor can subsidize the
cost of seeding credits to users.

[0058] In a related embodiment, a user can earn credits in exchange for a
preferred activity or behavior. A vendor can seed credits to users as a
form of compensation for a user's participation or activity. For example,
an online game developer can present an opportunity to a user to play its
game or participate in a survey in exchange for a certain number of
credits. Once the user has completed the activity or survey, the
developer can seed credits to the user. The user may spend the seeded
credits with the developer's application or other vendors in the currency
system.

Discounting

[0059] Credits with unique internal values and external values can be used
for discounting within the virtual currency system.

[0060] In some embodiments, discounting can occur when the credits are
created. A user can purchase credits where the credits have an internal
value that is less than the face value of the credits. For example, the
actual cost of creating a bucket of 100 credits may be $10.00. A discount
can be provided to the user by setting the internal value to $0.09,
rather than the actual cost of $0.10. This allows the user to purchase
the bucket of 100 credits at a discounted price of $9.00 based on the
internal value of $0.09 per credit. When the user transfers the
discounted credits to a vendor, the vendor receives less than full value
for the credits. The user may only see the face value of the credits and
not be aware about the discounted value at the time of purchase.

[0061] In other embodiments, discounting can occur when a vendor accepts a
value as payment for a good or service that is less than the actual value
of the good or service. For example, a bucket of 100 credits may have an
external value of $0.09. A vendor may offer a service to a user that has
an actual worth of $10.00 in real currency. The vendor may allow a
discount for the service by accepting the bucket of 100 credits, and the
vendor will receive $9 upon redemption of the bucket of 100 credits. This
type of discounting requires the vendor to subsidize the cost of
providing the good or service to the user.

[0062] In another embodiment, the cost of discounting goods and services
to a user can be shared by the central manager and the vendor. For
instance, the central manager can seed a bucket of 100 credits to a user
with an internal value of $0.00 and an external value of $0.05. The user
may exchange the bucket of credits for a good or service from a vendor
that is actually worth $10.00. When the vendor redeems the bucket of
credits from the central manager, the vendor receives $5.00 from the
central manager based on the external value of $0.05. In this exchange,
the central manager subsidizes the cost of creating the seeded credits
($5.00), and the vendor subsidizes the discounted cost of providing the
good or service to the user ($5.00).

[0063] Various types of discounting can occur where the cost of
discounting is shared by the vendor or central manager in the virtual
currency system.

Redistribution

[0064] In other embodiments, the vendor can purchase credits from the
central manager and redistribute the credits to users at a discount. For
example, a vendor may purchase a bucket of 100 credits with an internal
value of $0.05, and then sell the credits to users at a discount of $0.04
per credit. In some embodiments, the vendor may redistribute the credits
to users at no charge (seeding). This practice keeps credits within the
currency system and increases overall liquidity.

Viewing Accounts and Targeting Users

[0065] In some embodiments, an individual user's account balance and the
type of credits in the user's account are visible to other participants,
or to specific types of participants, such as vendors. The information
about the type of credits in a user's account may include the external
value or internal value, among other attributes of the credits. In one
embodiment, an individual user may give another participant, such as a
central manager or a vendor, permission to view the user's account.

[0066] In other embodiments, the central manager or vendor may target
individual users who have a certain number of credits or credits with a
certain internal value or external value. For instance, the central
manager may want to target users with seeded credits in order to remove
those credits from the virtual currency system or to encourage those
users to spend the credits. In other embodiments, the central manager or
vendor may target users with a large number of credits and invite those
users to spend the credits. Users holding credits with a lower external
value compared with other credits in the system may also be targeted for
spending.

[0067] In another embodiment, the central manager or vendor may target a
user based on the user's historical activity or transactions in the
system. A user with a history of purchasing or spending a large number of
credits may be offered a discount or an incentive to spend the credits
with the central manager or a specific vendor. For instance, an online
game developer (a type of vendor) may target a user who engages in
extensive online gaming in order to attract the user as a customer. The
developer may view multiple users' accounts and their past transactions
in the virtual currency system to determine which user has engaged in
gaming activity. In one embodiment, the developer can also determine the
number of times the user has viewed the developer's products or services,
or the number of times the user has viewed or purchased products and
services of similar vendors. In another embodiment, the developer may
present an offer to a user to purchase a bucket of credits for exclusive
use with the developer's game. In some embodiments, the bucket of credits
may be presented to the targeted user at a discounted price. The
developer may also seed a bucket of credits to the user in order to
attract the user to the game.

[0068] In a related embodiment, an individual user can be notified if the
individual user has reduced his or her purchasing or spending activities.
The notification may be sent via email, multi-media messaging service
(MMS), text message, web page alert, or similar electronic or online
communication medium. The central manager or a vendor may seed credits to
the user to encourage the user to re-engage in spending activities. In
another embodiment, the user can be notified if he or she does not have
enough credits to spend with a certain vendor. The user can be notified
about how many credits the user will need in order to purchase a specific
product or service.

Refunds and Chargebacks

[0069] Credits with unique internal and external values also allow for the
use of refunds and chargebacks in the virtual currency system. If a user
purchases a bucket of credits and later decides to return the credits,
the user can receive a refund in real currency based on the internal
value of the bucket of credits. For instance, if a user pays $5.00 for
the purchase of 100 credits and later decides to return those same 100
credits, the user can receive a refund of $5.00, based on the internal
value of $0.05 associated with the credits. The central manager refunds
the value of the credits to the user and removes the credits from the
user's account. In some embodiments, the user requests the refund for
credits and receives the refund via a third party payor or vendor. If a
user requests a refund of the credits after spending them with a vendor,
the vendor refunds the user the value of the credits, and the central
manager removes the credits from the vendor's account. A vendor may be
allowed to keep the user's credits in its account, for example, if the
refund request is received within a certain amount of time after the
user-vendor transaction (i.e., 90 days).

[0070] In other aspects, a transferring participant can transfer a certain
number of credits to an account of a receiving participant. After the
credits are transferred, the receiving participant may return the
transferred credits to the transferring participant. The transferred
credits can be identified by any of the attributes associated with the
credits, such as the ID number, external value or internal value. The
credits can be returned to the account of the transferring participant,
and the receiving participant can receive a refund of the transferred
credits. The transfer module 232 can carry out the return of the
transferred credits, and the data store module 234 can record data about
the refund transaction. The participant account module 235 can update
records about the transferred credits in each of the participant's
accounts.

Loans

[0071] In one embodiment, the credits in the virtual currency system can
be used for loaning A participant (e.g., a transferring participant or
loaning participant) may loan credits to another participant (e.g., a
receiving participant or a borrowing participant) by transferring a
certain number of credits to the receiving participant's account. In some
embodiments, a loaning participant can view the contents of another
participant's account before loaning credits to the participant. In other
embodiments, the transferring participant can also track the transferred
credits based on an associated attribute, such as the external value,
internal value or bucket ID number. For instance, the central manager can
loan a certain number of credits to a borrowing user and track the use of
the credits based on the bucket ID number. The data about the loaned
credits can be recorded in a data store. The data about the loaned
credits (i.e., loan balance) can also be recorded and maintained in the
account of the transferring participant and/or the account of the
receiving participant. In some embodiments, the receiving participant can
later return the loaned credits back to the transferring participant or
pay the loaning participant for the credits. When the loaned credits or
the value of the loaned credits is returned, both of the participants'
accounts and the data store can be updated to remove the record of the
loan balance. In some embodiments, the loaning can occur among users of a
social network environment.

Third Party Payors

[0072] In some embodiments, a third party payor can purchase credits on
behalf of a user. The third party payor can be a mobile phone carrier,
also known as a mobile network operator (MNO), carrier service provider
(CSP), wireless services provider, or other wireless carrier. The third
party payor can also be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) or
similar entity. In some embodiments, the third party payor is an
electronic payment provider or online payment service provider (PSP).

[0073] In one embodiment, a mobile phone carrier can purchase credits on
behalf of a user and charge the user's account for the cost of the
credits. The third party payor may charge an additional fee (e.g.,
surcharge) to the user for the purchase of the credits. The central
manager can receive the real currency (minus the surcharge) from the
third party payor and create a bucket of credits that have a discounted
external value to account for the surcharge. The central manager can then
provide the credits directly to the user.

[0074] In other embodiments, the user may exchange minutes in his or her
mobile phone account for the purchase of credits. If the mobile phone
carrier provides mobile phone credits to the user, the user may trade in
his or her mobile phone credits to purchase virtual credits.

[0075] In another embodiment, the third party payor can sell credits to
users on behalf of the central manager or vendor. In one embodiment, the
third party payor can be awarded a bonus of real currency from the
central manager for selling credits to users.

Summary

[0076] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has
been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.
Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many
modifications and variations are possible in light of the above
disclosure.

[0077] Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the
invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of
operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and
representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing
arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled
in the art. These operations, while described functionally,
computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by
computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the
like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to
these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality.
The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in
software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof

[0078] Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be
performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,
alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software
module is implemented with a computer program product comprising a
computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be
executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps,
operations, or processes described.

[0079] Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus for
performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially
constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise a
general-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by
a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be
stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium or any type of
media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and coupled to a
computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in
the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures
employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

[0080] Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a computer data
signal embodied in a carrier wave, where the computer data signal
includes any embodiment of a computer program product or other data
combination described herein. The computer data signal is a product that
is presented in a tangible medium or carrier wave and modulated or
otherwise encoded in the carrier wave, which is tangible, and transmitted
according to any suitable transmission method.

[0081] Finally, the language used in the specification has been
principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it
may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive
subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention
be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims
that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of
the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not
limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the
following claims.